By Edan Kamara

Yesterday we got up at 4 am and went on a six hour hike, which was amazing but most definitely challenging. Being that it is TJJ, and it is imperative to pack in as much fun in the span of about 12 hours, today we woke up at 6:00 am and drove from Kibbutz Lavi to the Kineret. In the rising morning sun we were split into several groups. With newly acquired rope knotting skills we began building our rafts! We were given barrels, bamboo and crates to built our rafts. The odds were against all of the groups that did not have boy scouts. We made chants and really got into the competition. All four groups were sent out to race to a spot in the kineret and back. Some people decided to make square rafts – others had more interesting ideas, such as making the raft a triangle. Let’s just put it this way: their raft was nicknamed the titanic. In the end one of the groups that did not have boy scouts (the team I was in) were the winners – defying the odds against us..

After we dismounted our rafts we headed out to Tiberias. There we arrived at a mechitzah beach where we ate delicious pasta, salad and pita with hummus by the water. After lunch we tanned for a bit (to try and fix our farmer tans) by the beautiful waters of the Kineret (the main lake in Israel). We then took a short dip in the beautiful clear water (there were seperate swimming areas for men and women – a very common thing in israel). Everyone had a great time and really soaked in the beautiful scenery.

We then left to go on another hike. We hiked down the Arbel mountain named after Rabbi Nitay Ha’arbeili who lived in that area during the first Jewish revolt against the Romans. The mountain we hiked and climbed down was used as a hiding place and a fortress for the Jews. The hike was pretty scary for those who are scared of heights (cough cough me). We basically had to walk on a thin ledge over a 300 foot drop, but it was very safe with bars to hold on to everywhere!
We headed over to a party boat, and danced to Rabbi Nachman and Adele – we made fools of ourselves! Everyone was going crazy, then a drumming circle was started while Etanna taught a few of us some cool african dance moves!

Following that amazing experience, we went to dinner by the port. We ate a great dinner of spaghetti, pizza and salad, and then headed back to the hotel. We then had our evening activity where we watched a short video about Jewish identity. We split up into our small groups and discussed the question of what constitutes who we are. We then were sent to bed early for a full night of sleep (8-10 hours!). We had an amazing day and we’re very excited to go to the holy, mystical city of T’zfat tomorrow!